Chances are, if you are a player, student or fan of Jazz Guitar, you have heard of the National guitar Workshop or at least have seen their instructional materials, published by Alfred Publishing, at your local music store. What you may not know however, is that every summer in various parts of the US, they put on a series of workshops that feature top-notch faculty alongside big-name players as students get to dig into their instruments for five full days of study in everything from Rock to Blues to Jazz to Classical. Here’s a little blurb from their brochure: “The National Guitar Workshop is dedicated to bringing the best in music education to guitarists, bassists, keyboardists, drummers and vocalists regardless of style of music or level of ability. Our acclaimed faculty and world-renowned guest artists combined with a highly developed curriculum and supportive learning environment foster meaningful experiences through performance instruction, jamming and master classes.”

Now if that doesn’t sound like an awesome way to spend a week during the summer months I don’t know what would. But wait, there’s more. This years NGW Summit features two of the world’s best known Jazz Guitarist: Kenny Burrell and John Scofield. Here’s some more info from the NGW:

Kenny Burrell is among the handful of guitar greats who have forever changed the role of their instrument, after 40 years as a jazz professional, appearing on several hundred albums as leader and sideman. He will be a guest artist in Tom Dempsey’s Giant’s of Jazz Guitar seminar (July 5-10), at the Los Angeles campus. This class is a unique opportunity to experience the lineage of jazz guitar, as students will study the music and improvisation styles of many legendary jazz guitarists including: Charlie Christian, Wes Montgomery, Kenny Burrell, George Benson, Jim Hall, Joe Pass and Grant Green. It is sure to be a great experience.

The John Scofield Trio, with bassist Steve Swallow and drummer Bill Stewart, is the featured guest ensemble for the New Milford Jazz Summit (August 10-15). This trio matches three of the great jazz musicians of our time, and the clinic will be a great opportunity for musicians of all instruments. The Jazz Summit is designed for intermediate to advanced level jazz guitarists, keyboardists, acoustic and electric bassists, and drummers who are looking to be immersed in a week long program of jazz studies. Faculty for the Jazz Summit include Tom Dempsey, Jody Fisher, Freddie Bryant, Mark Dzuiba, Ron Oswanski, Tim Ferguson, Carlo DeRosa, Jeff Siegel, and Sunny Jain.

The NGW Experience allows students to have extraordinary access to amazing musicians, which is just one more facet that gives NGW its reputation for excellence. For more information about how you can make the NGW Experience part of your summer, please visit www.guitarworkshop.com

I can’t imagine a better way to spend a couple of weeks in the summer than getting to know your instrument more intimately while being able to listen, watch, and learn from some of the greatest Jazz Guitarists on the planet. Although if I had to choose I’d be hard pressed to decide between Kenny or John. What about you? If you are planning to attend any of these Summits, or have done so in the past, please drop me a comment about your experiences. I’d love to hear from you. Later…